Frankie Cosmos

I now have three teenagers in my house, one of them a 13 year old spitfire of a daughter. As she has gotten older, I have introduced her to my “Indie Rocker Girls” as she likes to call them. A band that she digs is Frankie Cosmos. The indie pop songs are short little journal entries that make carpools a little less blase.

As my daughter has grown, so has Frankie Cosmos. Greta Kline has taken what started off as a bedroom project and solidified a band consisting Lauren Martin (synth), Luke Pyenson (drums), and Alex Bailey (bass). Like other bands that start off with a dominant personality, a la Deer Tick or Car Seat Headrest, it takes a bit for the rest of the band to really start expressing themselves. I feel like that started on Vessel but it really comes into focus on Close It Quietly. There’s just a little more oomph or punch to it.

Mixed in to the proceedings are a couple of solo numbers. Located on the back half of the album, With Great Purpose and Marble are a nice blend with the added oomph of tracks like Cosmic Shop, Windows and Last Season’s Treasures. Frankie Cosmos puts on a splendid show. They’re going to be in Chicago on September 23rd and well worth your time.

Frankie Cosmos is back with their fourth album; second withe the fine folks of Sub Pop. Based on the first track, Windows, this should be another winner.

Close It Quietly is a continual reframing of the known. It’s like giving yourself a haircut or rearranging your room. You know your hair. You know your room. Here’s the same hair, the same room, seen again as something new. Close It Quietly takes the trademark Frankie Cosmos micro-universe and upends it, spilling outwards into a swirl of referentiality that’s a marked departure from earlier releases, imagining and reimagining motifs and sounds throughout the album. FC’s fourth studio release is a manifestation of the band’s collaborative spirit: Greta Kline and longtime bandmates Lauren Martin (synth), Luke Pyenson (drums), and Alex Bailey (bass) luxuriated in studio time with Gabe Wax, who engineered and co-produced the record with the band.

I’ve been writing on this blog for over 10 years now. I’ve met loads of great people and musicians. But one of the coolest things I was able to do was start the process of my old babysiter getting an internship at Sub Pop. As we were going over the Sub Pop roster, I was mildly chastised for not paying more attention to the music of Frankie Cosmos; the indie-pop project of Greta Kline.

Since then, I’ve gotten on board with Vessel, released earlier this year. Spanning 18 tracks, book-ended by the only two tracks that last over 3 minutes, Vessel’s tracks come across as journal entries. Much like anyone who is making their through the day, you have ups and downs. Some days you’re on top of the world and other days you need to be lifted up. Throughout the album, Kline does a great job of conveying the highs and lows so you feel them.

I’ve only recently become enamored with Kline’s work. Feeling luck that I’ll get a chance to see her tomorrow in Chicago.